Algeria’s ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika submitted his resignation with immediate effect, state media said Tuesday, ceding power in the face of massive street protests after two decades at the helm. Bouteflika “officially advised the Constitutional Council of the end of his term of office as President of the Republic”, state television reported. Haddad, who Forbes magazine describes as one of Algeria’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, was detained at the weekend at a border post with neighbouring Tunisia. Bouteflika had named a new government on Sunday, made up mainly of technocrats under recently appointed premier Noureddine Bedoui. Among the other key Bouteflika backers is his younger brother and special adviser Said, who was frequently cited in the past as a likely successor to the president.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 03, 2019 06:11 UTC